Tuesday
Dec162008
Corruption and Intrigue in Afghanistan
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 14:10
Sarah Chayes, who runs a cooperative in Afghanistan, has a compelling but disturbing account (printed in full below) in The Washington Post. In contrast to most headlines that focus on "the Taliban", Chayes' anger is directed at the Government:
Chayes rejects negotiations with the Taliban: "Ask any Afghan what's really needed, what would render the Taliban irrelevant, and they'll tell you: improving the behavior of the officials whom the United States and its allies ushered into power after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks." She makes the disturbing assertion, "What I've witnessed in Kandahar since late 2002 has amounted to an invasion by proxy, with the Pakistani military once again using the Taliban to gain a foothold in Afghanistan."
Indeed, that allegation is doubly disturbing because, on the same day, The Times of London writes of Pakistani Major-General Faisal Alavi, "murdered last month after threatening to expose Pakistani army generals who had made deals with Taliban militants".
Most of my conversations with locals about what's going wrong have centered on corruption and abuse of power.
Chayes rejects negotiations with the Taliban: "Ask any Afghan what's really needed, what would render the Taliban irrelevant, and they'll tell you: improving the behavior of the officials whom the United States and its allies ushered into power after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks." She makes the disturbing assertion, "What I've witnessed in Kandahar since late 2002 has amounted to an invasion by proxy, with the Pakistani military once again using the Taliban to gain a foothold in Afghanistan."
Indeed, that allegation is doubly disturbing because, on the same day, The Times of London writes of Pakistani Major-General Faisal Alavi, "murdered last month after threatening to expose Pakistani army generals who had made deals with Taliban militants".